Biography
Linking post-World War II vocal pop traditions with the girl group style that surfaced after rock and roll took hold, the Paris Sisters occupied a distinctive position between those two eras. Already established industry figures by the time their Phil Spector-helmed breakthrough “I Love How You Love Me” appeared in 1961, the three siblings—Albeth, the eldest, Sherrell, the middle sister, and Priscilla Paris, the youngest—had grown up in San Francisco. Their mother Faye, a former opera singer turned archetypal stage parent, channeled her own ambitions through her daughters’ performances. The group began by singing and dancing at local Air Force events, and around 1953 they issued their first recordings on the small Cavalier label: “The Bully, Bully Man,” tied to radio host Red Blanchard, and the holiday single “Christmas in My Home Town.”
In 1954 Faye arranged a backstage meeting at the Warfield Theater during an Andrews Sisters show; impressed by the Paris Sisters’ precise replicas of their material, the headliners invited the trio onstage to reprise “Rum and Coca Cola” and “Beer Barrel Polka.” An MCA executive present that night promptly signed them to Decca, which released “Ooh La La” before the year ended. Early Decca sides such as 1955’s “Huckleberry Pie,” the Gary Crosby collaboration “Give Me a Band and My Baby,” and “Truly” stayed rooted in the close-harmony style of the Andrews Sisters and McGuire Sisters, even as rock and roll gained ground, and consequently received scant airplay. Despite limited chart success the sisters maintained a rigorous touring schedule that included county fairs, USO shows, and Las Vegas casino dates enabled by forged birth certificates, heavy makeup, and padding. Following the seventh Decca release, 1956’s “Daughter, Daughter,” the label dropped them; they moved to Imperial for “Old Enough to Cry” and “My Original Love” in 1957, after which Imperial also ended the arrangement, leaving the group without recording opportunities for the next four years.
Their return came in 1961 on Lester Sill’s newly formed Gregmark imprint, where Sill mandated a complete stylistic reset and enlisted emerging producer Phil Spector to execute it. Spector pushed Albeth and Sherrell into supporting roles while coaxing Priscilla to soften her robust delivery into an intimate, breathy tone. Although the Gregmark debut “Be My Boy” attracted little attention, the follow-up “I Love How You Love Me” reached the U.S. Top Five, buoyed by Priscilla’s understated lead and Spector’s unusually restrained arrangement. Positive reaction greeted the subsequent 1962 singles “He Knows I Love Him Too Much” and “What Am I to Do,” prompting Spector to begin work on a full Paris Sisters album; escalating costs led to a clash with Sill that ended when, according to Sill, an assistant inadvertently destroyed the master tapes—though persistent rumors suggest a more deliberate act. The Paris Sisters bore the brunt of the fallout, and after their association with Sill collapsed amid legal threats they remained silent on record until 1964, when MGM issued their Jack Nitzsche-produced cover of Bobby Darin’s “Dream Lover.” Two Mercury singles, “When I Fall in Love” and “Always Waitin’,” preceded the 1966 Unifilms soundtrack LP Sing from “The Glass House”, tied to an unsuccessful television series.
That same year the sisters joined Reprise, which teamed them once more with Nitzsche and Jimmy Bowen; although commercially unsuccessful, their 1967 Reprise album Everything Under the Sun!!! endures as a notable late entry in the girl group catalog and contains several songs written by Priscilla. Shortly after that album’s disappointing sales, Priscilla issued her solo debut single “He Noticed Me” on York, followed by the album Priscilla Sings Herself and the 1967 Billie Holiday tribute Priscilla Sings Billy. The Paris Sisters reconvened in 1968 for the GNP Crescendo single “Stark Naked Clown,” then delivered the Capitol one-off “Golden Days,” which proved to be their final recording together. Albeth later transitioned into television production and public relations, while Sherrell assembled Sherrell Paris & the Now People for nightclub work before joining Mark Goodman-Bill Todman Productions and serving more than two decades as personal assistant to The Price Is Right host Bob Barker. Priscilla moved first to London and then settled in Paris, France, for twenty-five years. After issuing the 1978 solo album Love Is…, she sustained an injury that caused partial facial paralysis and curtailed her performing for an extended period. She resumed occasional club appearances in Paris during the 1990s and flew back to the United States in spring 2002 for a planned Paris Sisters reunion concert, but the performance was canceled when the eighteen-hour flight left her too depleted to take the stage. Priscilla died on March 5, 2004, at age 59 from injuries sustained in a fall at her home.
In 1954 Faye arranged a backstage meeting at the Warfield Theater during an Andrews Sisters show; impressed by the Paris Sisters’ precise replicas of their material, the headliners invited the trio onstage to reprise “Rum and Coca Cola” and “Beer Barrel Polka.” An MCA executive present that night promptly signed them to Decca, which released “Ooh La La” before the year ended. Early Decca sides such as 1955’s “Huckleberry Pie,” the Gary Crosby collaboration “Give Me a Band and My Baby,” and “Truly” stayed rooted in the close-harmony style of the Andrews Sisters and McGuire Sisters, even as rock and roll gained ground, and consequently received scant airplay. Despite limited chart success the sisters maintained a rigorous touring schedule that included county fairs, USO shows, and Las Vegas casino dates enabled by forged birth certificates, heavy makeup, and padding. Following the seventh Decca release, 1956’s “Daughter, Daughter,” the label dropped them; they moved to Imperial for “Old Enough to Cry” and “My Original Love” in 1957, after which Imperial also ended the arrangement, leaving the group without recording opportunities for the next four years.
Their return came in 1961 on Lester Sill’s newly formed Gregmark imprint, where Sill mandated a complete stylistic reset and enlisted emerging producer Phil Spector to execute it. Spector pushed Albeth and Sherrell into supporting roles while coaxing Priscilla to soften her robust delivery into an intimate, breathy tone. Although the Gregmark debut “Be My Boy” attracted little attention, the follow-up “I Love How You Love Me” reached the U.S. Top Five, buoyed by Priscilla’s understated lead and Spector’s unusually restrained arrangement. Positive reaction greeted the subsequent 1962 singles “He Knows I Love Him Too Much” and “What Am I to Do,” prompting Spector to begin work on a full Paris Sisters album; escalating costs led to a clash with Sill that ended when, according to Sill, an assistant inadvertently destroyed the master tapes—though persistent rumors suggest a more deliberate act. The Paris Sisters bore the brunt of the fallout, and after their association with Sill collapsed amid legal threats they remained silent on record until 1964, when MGM issued their Jack Nitzsche-produced cover of Bobby Darin’s “Dream Lover.” Two Mercury singles, “When I Fall in Love” and “Always Waitin’,” preceded the 1966 Unifilms soundtrack LP Sing from “The Glass House”, tied to an unsuccessful television series.
That same year the sisters joined Reprise, which teamed them once more with Nitzsche and Jimmy Bowen; although commercially unsuccessful, their 1967 Reprise album Everything Under the Sun!!! endures as a notable late entry in the girl group catalog and contains several songs written by Priscilla. Shortly after that album’s disappointing sales, Priscilla issued her solo debut single “He Noticed Me” on York, followed by the album Priscilla Sings Herself and the 1967 Billie Holiday tribute Priscilla Sings Billy. The Paris Sisters reconvened in 1968 for the GNP Crescendo single “Stark Naked Clown,” then delivered the Capitol one-off “Golden Days,” which proved to be their final recording together. Albeth later transitioned into television production and public relations, while Sherrell assembled Sherrell Paris & the Now People for nightclub work before joining Mark Goodman-Bill Todman Productions and serving more than two decades as personal assistant to The Price Is Right host Bob Barker. Priscilla moved first to London and then settled in Paris, France, for twenty-five years. After issuing the 1978 solo album Love Is…, she sustained an injury that caused partial facial paralysis and curtailed her performing for an extended period. She resumed occasional club appearances in Paris during the 1990s and flew back to the United States in spring 2002 for a planned Paris Sisters reunion concert, but the performance was canceled when the eighteen-hour flight left her too depleted to take the stage. Priscilla died on March 5, 2004, at age 59 from injuries sustained in a fall at her home.
Albums
